Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/206

Rh 186 S A I S A I ST LUCIA, a West India island, discovered by Colum- bus in 1502, is situated in 13 50' N. lat. and 60 58' W. long., and has a length of 42 miles and a maximum breadth of 21. Pigeon Island, formerly an important military post, lies at its northern extremity. Originally inhabited by Caribs, St Lucia was settled by the English in 1639, and, after many alternations of English and French possession, surrendered to tae British arms in 1794. Sir John Moore was governor till 1797. St Lucia was subsequently in French possession, but was finally restored to Great Britain in 1803. The scenery consists of mountain, valley, and forest ; two cone-shaped rocks rise out of the sea to a height of 3000 feet, and near them are craters of extinct volcanoes and a solfatara. The island is considered a good coaling station for mail-steamers and war-ships ; there is a good harbour on the west coast, below Castries, the capital (population, 5000). The total population was 40,532 in 1883, of whom 1000 were white, mostly French. St Lucia forms part of the general government of the Windward Islands (from which Barba- dos is excluded) ; it has a legislative council composed of officials and crown nominees. The annual revenue and ex- penditure were 43,026 and 36,652 respectively in 1883, the debt (principally for Central Sugar Factory) being 32,400. The tonnage of vessels entered and cleared was 438,688 ; the total imports were valued at 191,191 and the exports (sugar, 7600 tons; cocoa, 307,120 tt>) at 213,823. The Usine or Central Factory system has been established with Government assistance. ST MALO, a seaport town of France, on the English Channel, on the right bank of the estuary of the Kance, is situated in 48 39' N. lat., 51 miles by rail north-north- west of Rennes. It is the administrative centre of an arrondissement in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine and a first-class garrison town, surrounded by ramparts of the 13th, 16th, and 17th centuries, which are strengthened with great towers at the principal gates. The granite island on which St Malo stands communicates with the mainland only on the north-east by a causeway known as the " Sillon " (furrow), 650 feet long, and at one time only 46 feet broad, though now three times that breadth. This causeway forms part of the site of Rocabey, an in- dustrial suburb more extensive, though less populous, than the town itself. In the sea round about lie other granite rocks, which have been turned to account in the defences of the coast ; on the islet of the Grand Bey is the tomb (1848) of Chateaubriand. The rocks and beach in the circuit of St Malo are continually changing their appear- ance, owing to the violence of the tides. Equinoctial spring-tides sometimes rise 50 feet above low-water level, and during storms the sea sometimes washes over the ramparts. The harbour of St Malo lies south of the town in the creek separating it from the neighbouring town of St Servan. It has a wet dock with from 20 to 25 feet of water (30 feet in spring-tides), and a mile of quays. Additional works are projected, to make the area of the dock 42 acres and the length of quays 1 miles. Among French seaports St Malo stands twelfth in commercial importance, but first in the number of seamen on its register. The annual imports and exports together amount to 184,000 tons, and 3000 tons of shipping are built yearly. Besides fitting out fishing -boats for Newfound- land, St Malo exports grain, colza-seed, cider, butter, tobacco, and various kinds of provisions to the Channel Islands, with which it is connected by a regular steamboat service. The coasting vessels have a tonnage of about 30,000. Communication between St Malo and St Servan is maintained by a revolving bridge. St Malo is largely frequented for sea-bathing, but not so much as Dinard, on the opposite side of the Ranee. Parame, to the east of St Malo, has recently sprung into importance. The interior of St Malo presents a tortuous maze of narrow streets and of small squares lined with high and sometimes quaint buildings. The old house in which Duguay-Trouin was born deserves to be noted. Above all rises the stone spire which since 1859 terminates the central tower of the cathedral. The castle, which defends the town towards the "Sillon," is flanked with four towers, and in the centre rises the great keep, an older and loftier structure, which was breached in 1378 by the duke of Lancaster. St Malo has statues to Chateaubriand and Duguay-Trouin. The museum contains remains of the ship "La Petite Her- mine," in which Jacques Cartier sailed for the discovery of Canada ; and the natural history museum possesses a remarkable collection of from 6000 to 7000 European birds. The population of St Malo in 1881 was 10,891 (commune, 11,212). In the 6th century the granite island on which St Malo now stands was the retreat of Abbot Aaron, who gave asylum in his monastery to Malo (Maclovius or Malovius), a Cambrian priest, who came hither to escape the episcopal dignity, but afterwards became bishop of Aleth (now St Servan) ; the see was transferred to St Malo only in the 12th century. Jealous of their independence, the inhabitants of St Malo played off against each other the dukes of Brittany and the kings of France, who alternately sought to bring them under subjection. During the troubles of the League they hoped to establish a republican government in their city, and on the night of llth March 1590 they exterminated the royal garrison and imprisoned their bishop and the canons. But four years later they surrendered to Henry IV. of France. During the following century the maritime power of St Malo attained some importance. In November 1693 the English vainly bombarded St Malo for four consecutive days. In July 1695 they renewed the attempt, but were equally unsuccessful. The people of St Malo had in the course of a single war captured upwards of 1 500 vessels (several of them laden with gold and other treasure) and burned a considerable number more. Enriched by these successes and by the wealth they drew from Pent, the shipowners of the town not only supplied the king with the means necessary for the famous Rio de Janeiro expedition conducted by Duguay-Trouin in 1711, but also lent him 1,200,000 for carrying on the War of the Spanish Suc- cession. In June 1758 the English sent a third expedition against St Malo under the command of Marlborough, and inflicted a loss of 480,000 in the harbour. But another expedition undertaken in the following September received a complete check. In 1778 and during the wars of the empire the St Malo privateers resumed their activity. In 1789 St Servan was separated from St Malo and in 1790 St Malo lost its bishopric. During the Reign of Terror the town was the scene of sanguinary executions. Among the celebrities born in St Malo are Jacques Cartier, Duguay-Trouin, Surcouf, and Mahe de la Bourdonnais all four of naval fame Maupertuis, Chateaubriand, the Abbe de Lamennais, and Broussais. ST MARTIN, one of the Lesser Antilles (West Indies), part of which (20 square miles) belongs to France and forms a dependency of Guadeloupe, while the remainder (18 square miles) belongs to Holland and along with Saba, <fec., is a dependency of Curasao. Situated in 18 N. lat. and 63 W. long., it ascends to a height of 1380 feet above the sea, and has a comparatively small cultivable area. The great saltpans of the Dutch portion produced in 1882 276,434 tons of salt, and there are similar saltpans in the French portion. Sugar and live-stock (horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs) are also exported. The chief settlement and anchorage in the French portion is Marigot, in the Dutch Philippsburg. The population in 1882 was 7083 (French portion 3724, Dutch 3359). Occupied by French freebooters in 1638 and by the Spaniards between 1640 and 1648, St Martin was divided between the French and Dutch in this latter year. SAINT-MARTIN, Louis CLAUDE DE (1743-1803), known as " le philosophe inconnu " from the fact that all his works were published under that name, was born at Amboise of a poor but noble family, on the 18th January 1743. By his father's desire he tried first law and then the army as a profession. While in garrison at Bordeaux, he came under the influence of Martinez Pasqualis, a Portu-